"She is absolutely welcome and has been welcome for the party. She has been elected and re-elected by the people of Maine and the Maine Republican Party for 20 years," Pawlenty said last night.

Earlier this week on MSNBC, Pawlenty said: "We want Olympia Snowe in the big tent but she can't say she's a Republican and then vote against the Republican position much of the time," Pawlenty said. "If she disagrees with everything, that's a problem."

He had avoided saying that he was glad she is a Republican on MSNBC. His comments raised a Snowe-storm, reaction from national media and Snowe herself.

Last night, he stepped back off the doubts he he voiced about her and he said he hadn't chosen his words well.

"I didn’t say it artfully but what I meant to say and tried to clarify was that… Ronald Reagan said it best, if you agree with us most of the time you are our friend, not your enemy. That certainly applies to Sen. Snowe. She has been involved in the party for a long time. I respect her and of course she is welcome and admired in the party," he told reporters Wednesday.

A Duluth native who just barely lost Virginia's GOP gubernatorial primary said that politicians have not gone far enough in condemning the left for violence during a rally of white nationalists in Charlottesville. "I think that the left is going to try to use this as an excuse to crack down on conservative free speech," said Corey Stewart. "I think they're going to try to use this as an excuse to remove more historical monuments."